MahuiaBridgman-Cooper
- Composer
Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper is a composer, musician and music producer, who has created scores for many celebrated New Zealand films, TV shows and commercials. After gaining a Master of Music in performance violin in Australia, he returned to Auckland and began working in the local screen industry. Bridgman-Cooper's many awards include several APRA Silver Scrolls (films Mahana, Shadow in the Cloud, and the second series of The Gone), and his composition for Plankton: The Movie won him recognition at the 2026 ASCAP Screen Music Awards in the US. He also composed the music for the Ghost Chips road safety campaign.
Screenography
Awards
2026 ASCAP Screen Music Awards (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers)
Honour for Top Streaming Films of 2025: Plankton: The Movie
2025 APRA Silver Scroll Awards (Australasian Performing Right Association)
Best Original Music in a Series: for The Gone, Season 2
Nominated for Best Original Music in a Film for Plankton: The Movie
2025 New Zealand Screen Awards/Ngā Taonga Whakaata O Aotearoa
Best Original Score - Series: for The Gone, Season 2
2023 New Zealand Television Awards
Best Original Score: for The Gone, Season 1, Episode 4
2022 APRA Silver Scroll Awards
Nominated for Best Original Music in a Feature Film: for Shadow in the Cloud
2020 APRA Silver Scroll Awards
Nominated for Best Original Music in a Feature Film: for The Legend of Baron To'a
2017 Rialto Channel New Zealand Film Awards (The Moas)
Nominated for Best Score (with Tama Waipara): for Mahana
2017 New Zealand Television Awards
Nominated for Best Original Music: for Terry Teo
2016 APRA Silver Scroll Awards
Best Original Music in a Feature Film (shared with Tama Waipara): for Mahana
2016 APRA Silver Scroll Awards
Nominated for Best Original Music in a Feature Film: for Housebound
2013 APRA Silver Scroll Awards
Maioha Award (for contemporary Māori songwriting) (shared with Maisey Rika, Te Kahautu Maxwell and Anika Moa ): for 'Ruaimoko'
2013 Rialto Channel New Zealand Film Awards (The Moas)
Nominated for Best Score: for Fantail
“It started off with me falling in love with the violin after hearing Isaac Stern as a six-year-old and has continued through pivotal moments in my life, whenever I hear something that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up…”